. >> reporter: in his last conference before retiring defense secretary leon panetta warned the looming sequester could cripple the military. >> many members have to understand they were protected to protect the public, not hurt the public. >> reporter: the sequester is shorthand for across-the-board cuts that are set to kick in because congress and the white house couldn't strike a debt deal last year. nearly half the cuts will come from the meant gone, which announced plans last week to reduce presence in iran. house republicans have coined the somewhat clunky term obamaquester in a way to describe the cuts. >> i want them to show us their plan to stop the sequester from going into effect. >> reporter: house republicans passed their own plan last year but the president opposed it. >> they're presenting only the defense cuts by making even bigger cuts to things like education and job training, medicare, and social security benefits. that idea is even worse. >> reporter: millionaires just saw their taxes go up two months ago when they lost their bush-era tax cuts and house speaker john